The Price You Pay
by AngelD0418
Summary: People in Marsailles, Michigan are missing. The Winchester brothers, and the Winchester sister, Lucy, investigate. They never get a simple case. Lucy is five years old. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: Lucy, Charlie, Lynne, and Sophie are mine (so far. there'll be more later) Everything else is not mine.

**Author's Note:** So it took me a long time to decide if I wanted to put this story up. I've had it around for a long time (long before they found John) and it's a variation on my Lucy stories. In this, Lucy is still their half sister and Sam and Dean are still the same age, but Lucy is five years old. Her backgroud is pretty much the same as the older Lucy, except that she is a lot younger. Hey. Who says a five year old can't travel with them? We all know that Sam traveled around with Dean and John when he was five. I'm not sure if I like older Lucy or younger Lucy yet. We'll see how this one goes. I hope this is at least a little different than a lot of the sister stories on this website.

**Saving Firefly**

"Hey Luce!" The butterfly was so pretty, with its blue and yellow wings. "Lucy!" It landed on a pretty red flower; the colors combined excited her. "Lucy Marie Winchester! Come on! We have to go!" The five year old, with the long brown hair and sparkling green eyes, felt her older brother Dean's arm suddenly encircle her waist as he plucked her from the ground and carried her over to the sleek, black, '67 Impala.

"Put me down!" Lucy cried as she wiggled, trying to free herself from Dean's grasp. She wanted to go back and watch the butterfly.

"No can do, kiddo," Dean replied, opening the back door of the car and placing Lucy in the car seat. "We have to go to Michigan, remember?"

"Mishgin? Where's that?"

"Michigan. It's a long drive that way," replied Lucy's other brother, Sam, from the front seat, pointing vaguely to his right.

"A long drive?" Lucy asked. Dean could hear a hint of disappointment in the little girl's voice. Lucy hated nighttime. If they slept in a hotel room, Dean could plug in her night light so his little sister wouldn't have to be faced with the blackness of night, but in the car, there was no where to put a night light. The only illumination was from the eerie headlights.

"Yeah, sorry Luce, but we have to drive through the night tonight if we're gonna get there quickly," said Dean as he finished buckling her in.

"Oh," was all she said.

"How about I come back and sit with you when it gets dark outside," Sam said, turning around in his seat to face Lucy.

"Okay," she replied, looking less forlorn. Dean climbed into the front seat and turned the car on, revving the engine.

"Your choice, Lucy. What should we listen to?" Dean asked the small child in the backseat.

"AC/DC!" It was Lucy's favorite band, and Sam blamed that fact on Dean. Dean popped the tape in the player and grinned as he looked into his rearview mirror to see a happier Lucy as she began to sing along. If Dean could do just that one little thing to make his baby sister's life just a little bit better, he would.

Actually, she was technically his baby half-sister, but it never really mattered to Dean. He had pretty much single-handedly raised her. Seven years ago, John Winchester thought he had finally found love again fifteen years after his wife's tragic death in a much younger woman named Lynne. They had married a year after meeting, which had seriously pissed off both of his sons. What pissed them off more was the fact that John didn't tell Lynne exactly what he did. For the time he was with Lynne, he gave up hunting for Mary's killer. That was the moment when Dean and Sam both decided that they hated their father.

After a year of marriage, Lucy was born. Five days after bringing the baby home, John finally decided to share with Lynne what happened to Mary and what he had done for the last fifteen years. Lynne was outraged and frightened by him and left, leaving Lucy behind for John and his sons to raise. The loss of two wives left John more depressed, more determined than ever to find Mary's killer, and even less attentive to his children than he had ever been. Dean and Sam, who were twenty and seventeen at the time, were left to raise Lucy. They loved their little sister more than anything and tried so hard to keep evil things from getting to her. She represented the innocence that they had lost so long ago.

But then Sam and John fought. They fought and they fought and sometimes it got so bad that Lucy would begin to cry. Dean would have to take her into another room and get her little stuffed rabbit and sing songs to calm her down. Then, when Sam was eighteen and scored his full ride to Stanford, the worst fight came. Dean held a sobbing, one year old Lucy in his arms as he watched Sam walk out the door. The only thing that kept Dean from feeling totally lost and alone, having no brother, no mother, and barely a father to speak of, was the crying girl in his arms. He vowed nothing wicked would ever touch his little sister.

The only reason Sam ever came home was to see Lucy. He would come into town for two weeks during the summer, not even staying at the house. It didn't matter to Lucy that she hadn't seen Sam for an entire year. Without fail, every time Sam came through the front door, Lucy would leap into his arms, and for those moments, holding his sister, Sam was as happy as she was. When the two weeks were up and Sam left, Dean saw the sadness take over his sister, and he would curse his brother.

Four years after Sam had walked out the door, they were back together again. John had disappeared, and Dean couldn't leave Lucy behind on his search for their father. He couldn't let just anyone watch over her. He had to be the one. So he brought her with. Sam joined them after his girlfriend's death, and they had been on the road for the last six months, searching for their father. It was after their first case that Dean had realized that he couldn't keep his vow. Lucy was being exposed to the evil things in the world. She was seeing all the horrible things in the world and Dean couldn't stop that from happening. All he and Sam could do was make damn well sure that nothing would ever hurt her.

"Where's Little Dean?" Dean heard from the back seat. He realized that he had been lost in thought and they had been driving on the empty highway for about two hours. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sam pick up the tattered white (well, more gray now) stuffed rabbit from the floor of the car and hand it back to Lucy. The girl grabbed it and hugged it close. It was getting dark outside and Dean switched on the headlights.

"Do you want me to come back there with you, Luce?" Sam asked her. She gave a small nod and Sam unbuckled his seatbelt, climbed over the seats, and plopped down next to Lucy. "Better?" he asked as he put his arm around the little girl.

"Better," she replied, leaning into Sam's shoulder. Within twenty minutes, she was sound asleep.

"Works every time," Sam whispered to Dean.

Dean couldn't stay awake anymore. It was three in the morning and Sam and Lucy were fast asleep in the backseat. Luckily, they had finally reached the small town of Marsailles, Michigan. Five people had disappeared in the last year after visiting an abandoned warehouse at the edge of town. No bodies had ever been found. Now it was Sam, Dean, and Lucy's turn to do a little investigating. But first, they needed a little sleep.

Dean pulled the car into the parking lot of the Marsailles Motel, a shabby little place that looked pretty shady to him. But they needed somewhere to sleep. At this point, Dean didn't really care where it was.

"Rise and shine," he said, turning around in his seat to face his two sleeping passengers. Lucy didn't stir, but Sam blinked and lifted his head to look at his big brother.

"Where are we?" he asked quietly.

"Welcome to Marsailles, Michigan, Sammy."

"We're here already?"

"Well, time flies when you're sound asleep, little brother." Sam reached down to unbuckle Lucy's car seat as Dean went to the trunk to get the stuff they needed for the night. When they were all loaded up, Dean with their things and Sam with a still sound asleep Lucy, they headed to the office to check in.

"Good evening boys," said an older man at the front desk. He looked to be in his mid-60's, with snowy white hair and a smile that made Dean feel immediately uneasy. "Or should I say, good morning?"

"Hi," Dean replied. "We need a room."

"No problem. We got plenty available. What are you folks doing out so early in the morning?" He gave Lucy a look that suddenly made Sam and Dean nervous. "And with such a little girl in tow?"

"Just a little family road trip," Dean replied, wanting to get this conversation over with and away from the man into a nice, warm bed. "My brother and I wanted to take our little sister to see a bit of the country. We just need somewhere to sleep for the night."

"Well here you go then," the man said, handing over a key. Dean made sure not to touch the man's hand as he took it. "Room 7, down that way," he said, pointing to his right.

"Thanks."

"And just call if you need anything. My name's Charlie, and either me or my wife, Sophie will be here."

"Okay, thanks," he said, quickly walking away, with Sam close behind.

"Did that guy freak you out a little bit?" Sam said when they were out of earshot.

"Yeah that was weird. Did you notice that he kept glancing at Lucy?"

"At least we're only here for the night."

"Tomorrow, we are definitely finding a better hotel."

Sam had been teetering on the edge of a full blown nightmare when he had heard Lucy's cries. She had gotten the nightmare first. He couldn't really make out what she was saying. Every couple of seconds she would cry out, as if something was hurting her. Noticing that Dean had failed to get up beside him, Sam realized that it was his turn to take care of his baby sister. He slipped out of bed and sat next to the little girl thrashing around on the bed. "Lucy," he said, shaking her shoulders a bit.

"No!" Lucy cried a little louder. This was the first word that Sam understood.

"Lucy, wake up," he said, trying to be gentle.

"Please! No!" Lucy yelled. That was what woke Dean up. Lucy cried again.

"Lucy! Wake up!" Sam shook her harder and suddenly, the little girl's eyes flew open and she was in a sitting position, sobbing. Sam pulled her close to his chest and rocked her back and forth. Unfortunately, these moments happened way too often for their liking. If it wasn't Sam having the nightmare, it was Lucy. It came with the job. And they hated it. "Shhh, its okay sweetheart. You're okay." Sam kept babbling things like that in Lucy's ear as Dean slipped out of bed and over to sit by Lucy. Dean stroked her hair as she began to calm.

"The-the big white doggie. It got-got me," Lucy said, shakily. Sam and Dean immediately understood. Their last job had been taking down a great white wolf in the woods of Minnesota. The wolf had nearly gotten Lucy, but Dean had shot it through the heart before it reached her. Obviously, it had still freaked her out.

"There's no more big white doggie. We got rid of it, remember?" Dean said from beside her.

"But it eated me! I felt it eat my toes!"

"Well," Dean said, moving down to her feet. "I still see ten little toes here. Do you feel…this?" Dean began to tickle her feet and the sweetest sound came out of Lucy's mouth. She began to giggle and squirm in Sam's lap, so Sam had a hard time holding on to her. He decided to join in the fun and started to tickle her sides. This went on for five minutes until Lucy was flat on her back and tears were again leaking out of her eyelids. But they were of a different sort. These were happy tears.

"Okay! Okay! Stop!" Lucy cried, sitting up as Sam and Dean stopped. "So no more big doggie?"

"No more big doggie," Dean said.

"Will you sleep in my bed with me, Dean? I'm still scared."

"Only if you promise to sleep."

"Promise!" Dean settled back into the bed beside Lucy as Sam pulled the covers up around her and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Night Firefly," he said.

"Night Sammy," she replied. She turned to say goodnight to Dean, but he was already out. Within ten minutes, so was she.

In his half asleep state, Dean heard the sound of snoring. It couldn't have been Lucy snoring that loud, so he realized that Sam must have finally gotten some sleep. He next realized that light was streaming through the window, so it must be morning. He slid out of bed with his eyes barely open and walked sleepily to the bathroom to complete his morning routine. He was just finishing up when he heard a cry from the other room.

"Dean!" It was Sam. Dean threw on his t-shirt and burst through the bathroom door to greet the face of his panic-stricken brother. "Lucy's gone!"

"What?"

"She's not here! I woke up and she wasn't in the bed!"

"Did you check everywhere?" he asked as he looked under the bed and the table. "I mean, you know her favorite game is hide and seek."

"I did, man, I did!" Sam cried.

"Okay I'm gonna go check outside. Maybe she just wandered away. Get dressed and meet me out in front of the motel. I'll also talk to Charlie. Maybe he saw her."

"Alright."

"Charlie! Have you seen my sister?" Dean asked, running into the lobby that was just as empty as it had been at 3 o' clock that morning.

"Ah good morning, son. Did you sleep well?"

"Have you seen my sister?" he tried again. "The little girl my brother was holding last night, with the long brown hair."

"Oh, yes, Lucy."

"Yeah Lu-wait. I never told you what her name was." Instead of looking embarrassed or nervous, he gave Dean the same smile he had given him earlier. It was almost sympathetic.

"Oh Lucy's gone, son."

"What the hell are you talking about? Where's my sister? Did you do something to her?" Dean was getting increasingly angry and reached across the desk to grab the collar of the man's shirt.

"Oh it wasn't me. She was gone to you when you crossed into this town.

"What? What do you mean she's gone?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, son."

"Tell me now or I swear I'll-" Dean didn't get to finish his threat. He felt the dull butt of a rifle pound against his skull and the last thing he saw before blackness claimed him was Charlie's crazy grin.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See the one in the last chapter.

He had that pounding he always had in his head after he had been brutally knocked unconscious. That seemed to happen with an alarming frequency. Dean cracked his eyes open, but it didn't really help, for all he could see was darkness. He heard a moan come from somewhere near him. "Who's there?" he called out quietly to the blackness.

"Dean?"

"Sam?"

"They got you too?"

"Yeah. The question is who got us?

"And where's Lucy?"

"You don't know how much I wish I knew." Dean fumbled around in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a lighter. The flame gave a small amount of light, but it was enough to see that it was in fact just him and Sam in the room and the room appeared to be a damp basement in what could possibly be the same abandoned warehouse that they were supposed to be investigating. There were no windows and the large metal door on the opposite side of the room definitely didn't look like it was able to be opened from their side.

"We've gotta get out of here, man," Sam spoke up from beside him.

"We have to get out and find that bastard Charlie."

"What are you talking about?"

"He has something to do with Lucy going missing. I don't know what, but I know he does. He told me that she was gone. Damn we have to find her, Sam." Just then, there was a loud creak and the room was flooded with light. The brothers grimaced in the bright light. When their eyes adjusted, they saw an older woman with obviously dyed blonde hair and the same grin as Charlie standing in the doorway. The disturbing part was the large, sawed off shotgun she was holding in her hand.

"Good afternoon, boys. Let me introduce myself, although I guess it hardly seems necessary now," she said with a small laugh. "I'm Sophie. I trust you've already met my husband Charlie?" If it wasn't for the gun in her hand, this lady would seem like a pleasant enough person.

"Where's our sister?" was the first thing that came out of Dean's mouth.

"I wouldn't worry about her. I would think you would be fearing for your own lives at the moment. Now I'm sorry I have to do this. You seem like such nice boys. But I just can't let you get in the way. "

"In the way of what?" Sam asked.

"Sacrificing an innocent."

"An innocent? You mean-" A horrified look came to both the brothers' faces.

"Yes. Your little sister. Her pure blood is what will keep the people of this town alive. Don't you see? One life to save many. It only makes sense. Oh my I've wasted way too much time talking. Goodbye, boys." She raised her shotgun to fire.

"Wait!" Dean cried, desperately trying to stall. "Why are you killing innocent people? Do you realize that you are planning on killing our five year old sister? She's five. She's still a baby." A look passed through Sophie's eyes. It was very brief, but Dean caught it. "Did you and Charlie ever have a child?" Sophie's gun drooped in her hands and her eyes shone with unshed tears.

"Why our own son?" She cried. "He was our son!" Dean actually felt bad for this woman. Not bad enough, however, to slip the gun from her slack hands and leave her standing in the middle of the room, shedding tears for her lost boy. The brothers slipped out of the room with guilt, locking the door tightly behind them.

"I'm not sure I want to know what happened," Dean said.

"Come on. There's nothing we can do for her. We have to find Lucy," Sam said. Dean agreed. The only problem was, they had no idea where to look.

It was so dark. She knew of the bad things that lurked in the shadows and she was terrified. Lucy was curled in a ball against a cold, cement wall. There was no light anywhere. She didn't even know if her eyes were open or closed. Tears ran down her smooth, young face and dripped onto her knees which were resting against her chin. Lucy wanted her brothers. They were the only people that could always make things better. She didn't even have Little Dean.

Then, there were whispers in the darkness. Lucy felt a cold breeze against her cheek. She couldn't understand what the voices were saying. The breeze came stronger and she was freezing. She pulled into herself tighter to warm herself. "Dean," she cried softly. "I'm scared." She sat and rocked herself, waiting for something to happen.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Again, see the first chapter. Oh, all the nameless people in this chapter belong to me too.

Author's Note: I changed the rating. Just to be safe.

"She's here somewhere, I know it," Dean said. Sam were trying to find their way around what they figured out was, in fact, the abandoned warehouse.

"You're right, man. She's definitely here," Sam replied.

"We have to be careful though, 'cause I'm sure there are other fine upstanding citizens lurking around here." They heard muffled voices from around the corner. Dean halted Sam, who was walking behind him, and motioned for him to listen.

"It has started," a voice came that they recognized as Charlie's. Dean turned to meet Sam's worried gaze. What had started? Did it have to do with Lucy's disappearance? They turned back to listen again.

"Good. I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to get her away from those guys," came a gruff, male voice.

"Good idea, pumping the gas into their motel room, Charlie," came another male voice, followed by what sounded like a smack on the shoulder. That explained why they hadn't heard the townspeople take Lucy and why Sam had actually slept. They had been gassed.

"I'd say it will be complete within the hour," a female voice said. The boys only had an hour to find Lucy before they lost her. Dean felt a hand grab his shoulder as Sam yanked back down the hallway behind them.

"Did you hear that? We only have an hour."

"Good thing we have Sophie's shotgun," Dean said with a smile, holding up the weapon.

"Dean-"

"I will kill them if I have to, Sam. I know you don't approve of killing humans, but this is Lucy. We're gonna get her back no matter what I have to do."

"I was just gonna say kill them if you have to." Dean was surprised for a moment before collecting himself. That one sentence spoke volumes to Dean. All those times that he was left alone to take care of Lucy, when he thought Sam just didn't care about his baby sister, were left in the past. Sam did love Lucy just as much as Dean did.

"We need to find the room Lucy's in," Dean said.

"I'm hoping they'll lead us to her." Sure enough, they heard movement coming from around the corner and someone mentioning something about checking the progress. The brothers followed silently in the shadows.

Lucy knew something was in the room. She could feel it. Her teeth chattered and her hair blew in her face. Something grabbed her arm and she screamed.

The townspeople and the brothers heard the scream and hurried.

Something grabbed her other arm. Lucy tried to wrestle her way out of the thing's grasp, but it was no use. A flash of white invaded the darkness, but she found that she preferred the black over what she was seeing now. Red orbs that resembled a pair of eyes floated in front of her, holding her gaze. She stopped screaming as the orbs hypnotized her. They came closer, nearly touching her nose, but she could do nothing but stare. She could feel the air literally being sucked from her chest.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: See all the other ones.

Author's Note: Last chapter. I know the story is a little short, but I'm trying to decide if I like younger or older Lucy better. If you've read my other Lucy stories where she's 18, let me know which Lucy you like better. And thanks for all the reviews!! Enjoy!

Dean heard the screaming cease and his heart stopped. The townspeople finally stopped in front of a giant metal door painted black. They had noticed the screams die away and the same crazy grin seemed to creep over all of their faces. That really pissed Dean off. In a moment of desperation, he lifted the rifle towards the group and fired one shot.

The group scattered as Charlie fell to the floor, blood flowing from his chest. Dean felt no remorse for the man. Only a great hatred. He could hear someone charging at him from his side, but before he could swing the rifle around, Sam stepped between him and the charging man and knocked the man to the floor with one blow.

In the moment of Dean's distraction, another man came up beside him and knocked the rifle from his hands. Dean quickly spun and punched the man hard in the face, dropping him like a stone. Someone jumped on his back. He turned his back towards a cement wall and backed up quickly, knocking the woman out and off of his back.

Sam quickly took out the other two men and he and Dean turned back towards the door and where Charlie lay dying. There was still the same smile on his face. "I'm afraid you're too late, boys. That's sure what it sounds like. Not long after the screaming stops is when the dying begins." He gave one last laugh before breathing his last breath.

Not giving Charlie's corpse one last thought, Sam and Dean leapt over it and pulled on the door. "Lucy!" Dean yelled as he pulled with all his strength. The door finally creaked open, shining light upon the horrible scene.

Lucy's arms were pinned to the wall and she was sitting on the floor, unconscious. There was a shriek as light came over the room and a mammoth black mass suddenly appeared. It had glowing red orbs where they assumed the eyes should have been. It turned away from Lucy, releasing its hold on her and flew towards the brothers.

Dean quickly spun around and grabbed the rifle from the ground behind him. He wasn't sure if it would work, but he was desperate. He shot the thing straight through the middle just as it reached Sam. There was an ear piercing shriek and a flash of white light, and the thing was gone. Dean dropped the gun quickly to the floor and followed Sam as they ran into the room.

Sam reached Lucy first. She had slumped to the floor in an awkward position. Sam pulled her away from the wall and laid her flat on the ground. Sam put his ear to her chest just as Dean landed on his knees beside them. "She's not breathing!" he cried.

"No. No way are you doing this to me, Lucy Winchester," Dean said frantically. Sam began to pump on her chest as Dean breathed for his baby sister. She was so cold. Her lips were already turning blue. Sam and Dean repeated the CPR cycle for what seemed like forever. Finally, there was a rush of air against Dean's cheek as Lucy began to breathe on her own. She coughed and choked as Dean pulled her up into a sitting position to help her breathe easier.

After her breaths became smoother, Sam grabbed Lucy's face in his hands. "Are you hurt anywhere, sweetie?" She shook her head no, causing the tears that were falling down her cheeks to create jagged lines.

"It-it was so dark," Lucy whimpered. Dean pulled her into his lap and held her tight. This had been a horrible experience for her and there wasn't much he could say to make her feel better. It would take a lot of time and there would be many nightmares. It was the price they paid for doing this job. Sometimes, Dean wondered if it was really worth it.

Sam, Dean, and Lucy got the hell out of dodge. They left the warehouse before the townspeople regained consciousness and within fifteen minutes, they were out of Marsailles. It was nighttime once again, and they were still in the car. Lucy and Sam were fast asleep in the backseat and Dean was left to again drive at all hours of the morning. This time, however, he didn't mind. He wanted to put as much space as he could between them and the state of Michigan. He was pretty sure they were in Illinois, but he wasn't positive.

Dean was tempted to go back to Lawrence. He was tempted to go see Missouri. He was tempted to leave Lucy with her. Missouri could protect the little girl. She knew about evil almost as fully as the Winchesters. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew it was a selfish thing to do. He couldn't bear to be away from Lucy. How would he know she was safe if he wasn't there to protect her?

Of course, he knew he hadn't done such a great job this time around. Dean would be kicking himself for this for the rest of his life. As much as he was mad at himself, however, he still couldn't leave her behind. He felt somewhere, deep down, that if he just dumped her on someone, he would never see her again. That wasn't about to happen, so for now, things would stay just the way they were. But how long could he keep the evil things in the world from stealing his sister permanently? That was something he just didn't want to think about. Dean drove on with that nagging doubt in the back of his mind. How long would it be?


End file.
